SHEARING TIPS FROM THE VET

Dr Amy Sawran of Westpoint Vets looks at the opportunities that shearing brings to carry out a check over on each alpaca.

Many will already know when the shearer is coming to provide alpacas with the welcome relief that comes with fleece removal. If you have struggled to find a shearer, local alpaca owner groups often have lists of reputable providers in your area.

The weather has proven to be rather inconsistent in recent years, so if shearing early, it is sensible to have rugs on hand to cover vulnerable older stock and youngsters if it becomes cold again. Later shearing means that you may avoid having to deal with early summer temperature drops, however it can increase the risk of both flystrike and heat stress.

On the day of shearing, you can expect to have your animals gently restrained, and this can provide a great opportunity for some important husbandry tasks and assessments, which are outlined below:

Toes

With animals on a shearing table, feet are much easier to get a hold of – you can take this opportunity to bring any over-long toenails back level with the pad, and also inspect the pads themselves for any cracks or foreign bodies that may need attention. Some shearers include this with their services.

Teeth

Tooth trimming should be undertaken on a case-by case basis and certainly incisor trimming should not be done as a matter of course. Teeth may not look perfect, but the decision to alter them should take into account an alpaca’s body condition, their ability to pick up and chew food normally, as well as their ability close their mouths fully. Trimming of incisors is legally an act of veterinary surgery due to the potential for entering into the sensitive pulp cavity, so shearing presents an opportunity to inspect teeth and condition score your animals before enlisting a vet to assess and treat. Sometimes bites that are abnormal at the front can be associated with poor alignment of the cheek teeth; thus a more detailed dental examination and treatment can be warranted. Fighting teeth may be burred down for the safety of handlers and other alpacas. If you have concerns about the dental health of any of your alpacas, you can perhaps book for the vet to visit at the same time as the shearer to reduce the potential need for further handling and any associated stress.

Parasite control

As you’re grouping alpacas ready for shearing, you have a chance to take some faecal samples to send to your vet or laboratory of choice to understand the particular parasite burden within your herd (if any!). It is not recommended to dose with wormer at shearing (or at any time) ‘just in case’; this can contribute to resistance, and since different wormers target different worm species (and none treat for coccidia- a protozoal parasite), you may not treat the potential burdens in your herd.

Your vet can best advise on sampling, but individual samples taken (gently) direct from the rectum yield the best quality information.

Relating to external parasites, it is very common for shearing to uncover lurking mite burdens, or even worse, flystrike. Luckily, both conditions are more easily treated when fibre is short, so if you note any lesions or crusting, scabbing or weeping skin, your vet should take samples and determine a course of treatment depending on the type of parasite responsible.

Body Condition Scoring

Fibre can really hinder our ability to determine an animal’s body condition, so condition scoring should always be a hands-on process. At shearing, you are well placed to determine which animals are perhaps over-conditioned, or those who could benefit from some extra TLC –through diagnostics or enhanced nutritional support. Knowing a herd’s condition helps you to group animals of similar scores together, to tailor their nutrition. Many use scales of 1-5 or 1-10 (one being thin and 5 or 10 obese). Body condition scoring assesses the level of tissue coverage over the bones of the spine and other areas. This is best performed over the spine between the ribs and pelvis, with covering ranging from a straight drop either side of the spinal process, or, if over fat, a ‘peachier’ shape. Alpacas should ideally sit in the middle of whichever scale you use.

Vaccination

It is common for shearing to be accompanied by vaccination for clostridial disease, often administered by shearers as part of the service. While convenient, it is not technically legal for contractors to perform as the medications are not licenced for alpacas but there are other reasons for this not being a recommended practice. Vaccines must be kept cold, or risk being inactivated. Therefore, whomever is administering the vaccines must preserve the cold chain. Clostridial vaccines also expire within hours of being broached, so care must be taken that you are not outwith the limit of your chosen vaccine. Lastly, shearing, though done with the utmost care and attention, can induce stress in alpacas, and it is not ideal to pose an immune challenge on a stressful day. Vaccination is ideally undertaken in the calmest, safest way with minimal interaction, especially in the case of pregnant females. Vaccination, including which product to use, is a personal decision, which should be made considering advice from your vet, your holding’s risk profile, handling facilities and capabilities.

Here's to a sunny summer, and a stress-free shearing season for you all.

Dr Any Sawran exchanging thoughts with alpacas